Hola from MEXICO!

Well.....after daydreaming for months about going on a cruise to Mexico I was ready to plan.   We both had jobs now and we had been saving since we got married to take another trip!  After searching we chose to take a Carnival cruise from New Orleans, LA to Progreso, Mexico and Cozumel, Mexico.  I was soooo excited!!!  (By the way...from the day Brent got the job to the day we flew out was only 5 days...lol...told you I had been planning)  So here are some pics from our cruise!

                                   It was an EARLY flight...had to be at the airport at 4:30 a.m. ! 

 

                                                     Beautiful sights from the plane!

 

Always love "Elegant night"

My favorite :)

Beautiful views in Progreso, Mexico

Shopping in the markets

 

Our ship docked for the day

This is where we snorkeled in Cozumel....It was AMAZING!!!!

We saw so many fish and a HUUUGEEE hermit crab!  It was so nice to get to swim out so far without any life vest or rules!  Before we went snorkeling we went on an ATV excursion through the jungle....CRAZY FUN!  So muddy and bumpy and huge holes filled with water....definitely a favorite moment of our trip!

Beautiful Cozumel

I loved all of the parrots...I even got to hold one!

This dude scared me so badly! 

I ended up in the Carnival Legend show as Shania Twain...I never thought I would...so much for just having fun...you end up in a show!

I LOOOVVEDDD New Orleans...and all of the masks :)

Brent kinda creeped me out!

The Catholic Church was a sight worth seeing...beautiful!

View from the Mississippi River. 

 

They were awesome!

Of course, we had to stroll down the famous Bourbon St.  (Beads galore!) 

Classic New Orleans!

So thankful I got to take this trip with the love of my life! 

Cannot wait until we get to go on another one!

 

 

 

Long Overdue Updates ! Sorry I'm a lazy blogger :/

Well....Since we have moved back to Gastonia ALOT has taken place.  The first month or so was quite stressful...no jobs, no church, one car, and the boredom of sitting around waiting to find the right jobs!   Luckily our awesome friends Josh and Hannah are always great to cure our boredom and stress by letting us come over and eat dinner, play with their baby Cameron, and of course the men enjoy watching sports together.  Although we knew that we had made the right  move, there is always that worry that comes when you have NO CLUE what you are going to be doing. 

I had several interview calls, but nothing had worked out for a month or so.   One day while Brent and I were watching "Lost" (our summer addiction on netflix)  he got a call.  A local Christian school had called him about coming to teach in their middle school.  Brent really knew this was not the career he was looking for so he kindly turned them down.  Crazy I know, but God always has a plan and way of working things out.  I am sitting in the recliner waving my hands and pointing "ME, ME, ME...tell him about me!"  So after my comotion Brent says..."Well, my wife is a teacher and she is also looking for a job, and she really wants to teach."  He asked what grade I had taught and Brent told him Kindergarten.  Well amazingly he says, "We have a Kindergarten opening, have her call me".  In my excitement I call ASAP!  I had an interview that day and waited to hear back.  I interviewd against two seasoned teachers and was quite worried about that scenario.  A few days later I got the call back and the job was mine!  I was so amazed at God's timing and mysterious ways.  He brought the job to me without even looking. 

Brent still had been looking everywhere for the right job.  He had applied at an energy company a couple of months earlier and never heard anything back, so he figured that was not an option.  The beginning of July he got a phone call from the manager at the company. They had a freeze on their hiring process, which was why they had not called him back.  After reviewing his resume they were calling for an interview...YAY!  Well we were sooo nervous because this was the only promising lead he had gotten so far.  After a great interview...we waited.  One morning the manager calls and asks if he can pick Brent up for lunch to discuss the position.  Of course you can!!! I thought, "You got the job babe!"  Well after a LONG lunch...and me sitting at home pacing...Brent comes back in the door.  His first statement..."well that didn't really help".  UGGHH I thought ...WHAT???  (Brent loves to scare me)  Turns out he got the job.  So after we found this out we were super excited that in this crazy economy we both had found jobs withing 2 months of being back!  The company is GREAT to work for and exactly what we need for this phase of life.  God is good! 

Even though we were super excited, we were bummed that he may have to start and it would be another year before we could go on a vacation for just the two of us.  We had been saving and really wanting to go on a big vacation this year, but knew it might not happen.  Brent's manager called to let him know his start date, and said that he would be gone for two weeks so if we wanted to go on vacation now was the time to do so.  I was thrilled!! I knew exactly what I wanted to do sooo I said let the planning begin!!!!